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Introduction Muscular dystrophies present a group of inherited degenerative disorder that are characterized by progressive muscular weakness. This evidence-based position paper represents the official position of the European Union through the UEMS PRM Section. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the role of the physical and rehabilitation medicine (PRM) physician and PRM practice for people with muscular dystrophies. Evidence acquisition A systematic review of the literature and a consensus procedure by means of a Delphi process have been performed involving the delegates of all European countries represented in the UEMS PRM Section. Evidence synthesis The systematic literature review is reported together with thirty-three recommendations resulting from the Delphi procedure. Conclusions The role of the PRM physician is to assess the functional status of persons with muscular dystrophy and to plan, monitor and lead PRM program in an interdisciplinary setting within a multiprofessional team.

INTRODUCTION Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive motor neuron disease that affects both upper and lower motor neurons and is fatal in its course. This evidence-based position paper represents the official position of the UEMS PRM Section. The aim of the paper is to define the role of the physical and rehabilitation medicine (PRM) physician and PRM professional practice for people with ALS. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION A systematic review of the literature and a consensus procedure by means of a Delphi process have been performed involving the delegates of all European countries represented in the UEMS PRM Section. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS The systematic literature review is reported together with thirty-two recommendations resulting from the Delphi procedure. CONCLUSIONS The responsibility of the PRM physician is functional assessment of persons with ALS and delivering the optimal and most effective PRM program of care. The rehabilitation program of patients with ALS should be delivered and monitored by the multiprofessional team, with the PRM physician as principal coordinator.

Invertebrates are important elements of aquatic ecosystems and play a crucial role in the transformation of matter and energy in continental water bodies. Communities of aquatic invertebrates are characterised by high sensitivity to pollution by nutrients and toxic substances and acidification of water bodies; they serve as good bioindicators of the quality of the aquatic environment and impacts on hydroecosystems. All hydrobionts participate in the processes of self-purification of water bodies. The presented dataset provides information on the aquatic invertebrate community of a large northern river. During 2018-2020, we collected data on changes in the quantitative indicators of the development of benthic and planktonic communities, as well as the species diversity of their fauna. The dataset combines information about the occurrence and abundance of benthic and planktonic invertebrates and summarises data of aquatic invertebrate species found in the Vychegda River in the zone of influence from the pulp and paper mill. The presented dataset is part of a monitoring programme of the river ecosystems in the production area of Mondi Syktyvkar JSC (the European North-East of Russia, Komi Republic). The dataset describes the structure of benthic invertebrate and plankton communities in the Northern Dvina River Basin. The data on the finding and abundance of large taxa of aquatic invertebrates and species of some groups: Oligochaeta, Cladocera, Copepoda, Rotifera, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera are presented. In total, the resource includes 8720 findings of invertebrates, of which 6041 are for zoobenthos organisms and 2679 for zooplankton organisms.

Background: The WHO definition of palliative care includes bereavement support as integral to palliative care, yet a previous survey of bereavement support in palliative care in Europe has shown a range of service responses to loss. A rigorous approach to agreeing and implementing a palliative care bereavement framework was required. Aim: The aim of this study was to develop consensus on best-practice recommendations for bereavement care principles, structures, processes and delivery based on current practice and evidence. Design: In accordance with Guidance on Conducting and Reporting Delphi Studies, a consensus-building five-round Delphi technique was performed. A scoping review of research literature informed drafting of 54 statements by the EAPC Bereavement Task Force. Evaluation of the statements was performed by an expert panel using a 5-point Likert scale. ⩾80% agreement were defined as essential items and 75%–79% agreement were defined as desirable items. Items with a consensus rating Setting/participants: The Delphi study was carried out by an expert panel among membership organisations of the European Association for Palliative Care. Results: In total, 376 email requests to complete Delphi questionnaire were distributed with a response rate of 23% ( n = 87) and a follow-up response-rate of 79% ( n = 69). Of the initial 54 statements in six dimensions, 52 statements were endorsed with 26 essential statements and 26 desirable statements. Conclusions: The six dimensions and 52 statements agreed through this Delphi study clarify a coherent direction for development of bereavement services in palliative care in Europe.

Gastro-oesophageal reflux (GOR) and food allergy (FA) are common conditions, especially during the first 12 months of life. When GOR leads to troublesome symptoms, that affect the daily functioning of the infant and family, it is referred to as GOR disease (GORD). The role of food allergens as a cause of GORD remains controversial. This European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) position paper aims to review the evidence for FA-associated GORD in young children and translate this into clinical practice that guides healthcare professionals through the diagnosis of suspected FA-associated GORD and medical and dietary management. The task force (TF) on non-IgE mediated allergy consists of EAACI experts in paediatric gastroenterology, allergy, dietetics and psychology from Europe, United Kingdom, United States, Turkey and Brazil. Six clinical questions were formulated, amended and approved by the TF to guide this publication. A systematic literature search using PubMed, Cochrane and EMBASE databases (until June 2021) using predefined inclusion criteria based on the 6 questions was used. The TF also gained access to the database from the European Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology working group, who published guidelines on GORD and ensured that all publications used within that position paper were included. For each of the 6 questions, practice points were formulated, followed by a modified Delphi method consisting of anonymous web-based voting that was repeated with modified practice points where required, until at least 80% consensus for each practice point was achieved. This TF position paper shares the process, the discussion and consensus on all practice points on FA-associated GORD.

Heart failure (HF) is a long-term clinical syndrome, with increasing prevalence and considerable healthcare costs that are further expected to increase dramatically. Despite significant advances in therapy and prevention, mortality and morbidity remain high and quality of life poor. Epidemiological data, that is, prevalence, incidence, mortality, and morbidity, show geographical variations across the European countries, depending on differences in aetiology, clinical characteristics, and treatment. However, data on the prevalence of the disease are scarce, as are those on quality of life. For these reasons, the ESC-HFA has developed a position paper to comprehensively assess our understanding of the burden of HF in Europe, in order to guide future policies for this syndrome. This manuscript will discuss the available epidemiological data on HF prevalence, outcomes, and human costs—in terms of quality of life—in European countries.

Spinal dysraphism (SD) or spina bifida (SB) is a congenital deformity that results from embryonic neural tube closure failure during fetal development. This evidence-based position paper represents the official position of the European Union through the UEMS PRM Section. This paper aims to evaluate the role of the physical and rehabilitation medicine (PR M) physician and PR M practice for children and adults with spinal dysraphism. A systematic literature review and a consensus procedure involved all European countries delegates represented in the UEMS PR M section through a Delphi process. The systematic literature review is reported together with thirty-two recommendations resulting from the Delphi procedure. The professional role of the PRM physician requires specific expertise in the treatment of patients with SD to plan, lead and monitor the rehabilitation process in an interdisciplinary setting and to participate in the assessment of the needs of these patients in the transitional phase from childhood to adulthood, with particular attention to the activity limitation and participation restriction.

Since 1975, the Weurman Flavour Research Symposium has been held every three years in different European countries, and has been finally established as an international event that offers unique opportunities for distinguished scientists from academia and industry, from different disciplines, and from all over the world, to discuss trends and new paradigms in the field of flavour research [...]

This bibliometric analysis aims to analyze the high-cited papers (HCPs), those which have received100 citations) on Sarcopenia to provide insight into publication performances and research characteristics of the literature.Global HCPs on Sarcopenia research were identified from the Scopus database from January 1993 to August 2022. VOSviewer, and Biblioshiny software were used to visualize the collaborative interaction among most productive countries, organizations, authors, and keywords. Select bibliometric measures were applied to evaluate the publication productivity and their influence in this area.Out of 6219 publications on Sarcopenia only 398 were HCPs. These HCPs received an average of 271.7 citations per publication (CPP). The most productive organizations were the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy, and Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Center on Aging, USA. The most impactful organizations in terms of CPP and relative citation index were CHU de Toulouse, France, and Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy. The most productive authors were Landi F and Morley JE, and Anker SD from Italy and Germany respectively. The most impactful authors were: Cederholm T (Sweden), Cruz JAJ (Spain) and Rolland Y (France). There were few/no HCPs from South America, Africa, South Asia, and USSR.Sarcopenia research has been predominantly done in USA, Europe, and China, and rarely from low and middle-income countries. Further focus of research should be on its etiopathogenesis (especially at the molecular level), prevalence in different communities, methods to diagnose it in early stages, and its cost-effective management.

Here we present the sampling event dataset that contributes to studying the flora of grasslands in Central Forest State Nature Biosphere Reserve (part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves), Tver Oblast, Russia. The Reserve is located in the SW part of the Valdai Upland within the main Caspian-Baltic watershed of the Russian plain (Latitude: 56° 26' – 56° 39' N, Longitude: 32° 29' – 33° 01' E). The territory of Central Forest Reserve belongs to the subzone of subtaiga. The dataset includes the occurrences of vascular plant species in four types of grasslands from 209 vegetation plots (8,506 associated occurrences), collected in 2013-2014. The dataset described in this paper has never been published before. As the grasslands in Central Forest State Nature Biosphere Reserve are relatively unstudied, we are providing a new comprehensive dataset on the vascular plant species occurrences in the grasslands of the Reserve. The dataset contains representative information on floristic composition of plant communities in localities with assigned GPS coordinates. As the vegetation of the Reserve is typical of the subtaiga subzone, the results of analysing this dataset can be useful for grassland management in the whole subtaiga subzone. During this study, we found one vascular plant species included in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation, three species from the Red Data Book of Tver Oblast, as well as 10 alien vascular plant species for the Reserve. These data, especially, the occurrences of protected and alien species, contribute to our knowledge of species composition of the grasslands of the Reserve.

Recycled paperboard contains hundreds of non-evaluated or even unidentified substances that could endanger human health if they turn out to be highly toxic. It seems as unrealistic to evaluate each of them as it is to phase out the use of the problematic ones or sort out the papers and boards introducing them into the recyclate. Therefore, measures should be taken that generally reduce migration into food, such as functional barriers or functional sorbents. A general approach is used for the recycling of plastics, particularly poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET: as not every potential contaminant can be regulated, a pragmatic approach is applied, for PET mainly on the required decontamination efficiency. Criteria are required on the required efficacy of the measures to be taken. Recycled paperboard is used for various types of food contact: mostly contact is through the gas phase (evaporation and recondensation), often indirect through other layers (e.g. internal bags or for transport boxes), seldom in wetting contact. Numerous factors have to be considered. For typical folding boxes and at least strongly dominating gas phase contact, it was proposed that no more than 1% of each contaminant in the recycled paperboard should enter the food. The efficiency of the measures required to comply with this criterion depends on the application. The three main measures are reviewed with regard to this criterion: (i) internal bags with an incorporated functional barrier (successfully used for some time), (ii) a barrier layer on the internal wall of the box (for which the design of the closures might be most critical) and (iii) functional sorbents added to the paperboard (for which the sorbent capacity is critical). For transport boxes, commonly of corrugated board (quantitatively the most important use of recycled paperboard in food contact), an adjusted or different criterion is needed.

The purpose of the data paper was to introduce into scientific literature the results of scientific work carried out for the third edition of the 'Red Data Book of the Komi Republic'. The article reflects methodological approaches to the formation of a list of rare and in need of protection species and describes the corresponding datasets published in GBIF. Information about 7,187 occurrences of 438 rare species and infraspecies included in the third edition of the 'Red Data Book of the Komi Republic' have been published.

Background The European Commission is funding projects that aim to establish data-sharing platforms. These platforms are envisioned to enhance and facilitate the international sharing of cohort data. Nevertheless, broad data sharing may be restricted by the lack of adequate recognition for those who share data. Objective The aim of this study is to describe in depth the concerns about acquiring credit for data sharing within epidemiological research. Methods A total of 17 participants linked to European Union–funded data-sharing platforms were recruited for a semistructured interview. Transcripts were analyzed using inductive content analysis. Results Interviewees argued that data sharing within international projects could challenge authorship guidelines in multiple ways. Some respondents considered that the acquisition of credit for articles with extensive author lists could be problematic in some instances, such as for junior researchers. In addition, universities may be critical of researchers who share data more often than leading research. Some considered that the evaluation system undervalues data generators and specialists. Respondents generally looked favorably upon alternatives to the current evaluation system to potentially ameliorate these issues. Conclusions The evaluation system might impede data sharing because it mainly focuses on first and last authorship and undervalues the contributor’s work. Further movement of crediting models toward contributorship could potentially address this issue. Appropriate crediting mechanisms that are better aligned with the way science ought to be conducted in the future need to be developed.

The presented dataset contains information on the distribution and species composition of zooplankton (rotifers and crustaceans) registered in the Basin of the Middle Volga River, Russia. The studies have been performed in the Kuibyshev Reservoir (Samara Oblast and the Republic of Tatarstan), the Saratov Reservoir (Samara Oblast), in several lakes (Raifskoe, Gniloe, Krugloe and Lenevo) in the Volzhsko-Kamsky State Biosphere Reserve (Republic of Tatarstan) and in Lake Aslikul, one of the largest lakes of the Middle Volga River Basin, located in the Asly-Kul Natural Park (Republic of Bashkortostan). The hydrobiological data were obtained and published from 1957 to 2020. In total, the dataset includes 5141 records of 111 zooplankton species (including 17 subspecies), belonging to 45 genera. These are mainly native species - 98.5%, while the naturalised, including invasive species, accounts for less than 1.5%. A total of 5141 records have been published on the taxonomic diversity and occurrence of zooplankton (rotifers and crustaceans) in the Middle Volga River Basin. Each record includes information about the place and date of finding the specimen, its taxonomy, occurrence and abundance and the collector. If the information about the find has been published, a link to the corresponding reference is provided. The presented dataset supplements the data on the distribution of zooplankton species in the European part of Russia. Data on zooplankton in the Middle Volga River Basin are published for the first time.

The present paper is a continuation of the previous publication by the author in this journal devoted to the cultural-symbolic world picture of the Latin Christian Middle Ages. Unlike the previous one, this second text reproduces the historical “picture” of the era with an emphasis not on the ontological, but on its proper cultural expression. The author as a philosopher is not so much focused on the “fact” (this is the business of historians) as on the “meaning”, taking care of the meaningful modeling of the age as a cultural phenomenon. The first part of the study is presented, devoted to the medieval culture of governance as a symbolic culture of powerful social relations.In the Preamble, considering the “fabric-textual” mythologem of “human–text–world”, the conceptual background of the study is outlined, the author’s latest revision of the general formula of the medieval cultural-symbolic picture of the world as a picture of the history of personal salvation culture is proposed, the study subject is specified, and the circle of “guides”-predecessors is defined.In § 1, the role and significance of the “vertical salvation” and its sacred nature for the Christian consciousness are considered. The creation fundamentals for transformation of the vertical into a symbolic hierarchy of medieval society are determined. With respect to a few of key philosophical and by itself jural monuments of the era, the concept of the Middle Ages as an age of absolutization of the pure Idea, therefore, of the absolutization of personal existence, is illustrated.§ 2 examines the questions of hierarchy, power, and freedom in view of their levels and options of realization in medieval society. The problems of social personalization of the “upper” and the “lower” inhabitants of the symbolic hierarchical ladder, the relationship between the hierarchical rungs, the logic of their “filling” and the per-level freedom of a medieval person on the scale of “domination–submission” have been solved. The “epochal” status of a Christian as a spiritually free person has been captured., Стаття – продовження попередньої публікації автора в цьому виданні, присвяченої культурно-символічній картині світу латинського християнського Середньовіччя. Цей, другий, текст відтворює історичну «картинку» доби з наголосом не на онтологічному, а на її культурному виразі. Автор як філософ зосереджений не так на «факті» (це справа істориків), як на «смислі», опікуючись смисловим моделюванням доби як феномену культури. Представлено першу частину дослідження, присвячену середньовічній культурі врядування як символічній культурі владних соціальних стосунків.У Преамбулі з огляду на «тканинно-текстову» міфологему «людина – текст – світ» окреслено концептуальне тло дослідження, запропоновано останню авторську редакцію загальної формули середньовічної культурно-символічної картини світу як картини історії культури особистісного спасіння, конкретизовано предмет дослідження і визначено коло попередників-«провідників».У § 1 розглянуто роль і значення «вертикалі спасіння» та її священної природи для християнської свідомості. Визначено тварні засади трансформації вертикалі в символічну ієрархію середньовічного соціуму. З урахуванням ключових філософських і власне правових памʼяток доби проілюстровано концепцію Середньовіччя як доби абсолютизації чистої Ідеї, отже, абсолютизації особистісного буття.У § 2 розглянуто питання ієрархії, влади і свободи з огляду на їхні рівні та можливості реалізації в середньовічному суспільстві. Вирішено проблеми соціальної персоналізації «верхніх» і «нижніх» пожильців символічної ієрархічної драбини, стосунків між ієрархічними щаблями, логіки їхнього «заповнення» та порівневої свободи середньовічної людини на шкалі «владарювання – покора». Зафіксовано «епохальний» статус християнина як духовно вільної людини.

European inequality research often follows the tradition of using occupational based categorical classification to identify the socioeconomic position of individuals or households (e.g., classes, strata, milieus, occupational groups). In the past, European studies have often used the Erikson-Goldthorpe-Portocarero class (EGP) scheme (cf. Erikson & Goldthorpe 1992). However, the EGP scheme has only been validated for Great Britain (cf. Evans 1992). Variants for other countries are largely based on informed plausibility, following the British model, though operationalisation may vary by country. As an alternative to the EGP, two other currently available categorical concepts are the ESeC (European Socioeconomic Classification) and the ESeG (European Socioeconomic Groups), both based on the International Standard Classification of Occupation (ISCO). Both concepts are intended to improve cross-country comparative analysis of social inequality in Europe. However, the ESeC and ESeG differ in their theoretical basis and should not be confused with each other, and the ESeC and ESeG also cannot readily be transferred into each other. The ESeC is available for ISCO-88 (ESeC88) and ISCO-08 (ESeC08). The ESeG is available for ISCO-08. In this paper, we focus on the operationalisation of ESeC with EU-SILC cross-sectional data (2004-2020). Alongside this report, we have published syntax files (SPSS, Stata, and R) which can be used for the operationalisation of ESeC and ESeG., GESIS Papers

This Working Paper investigates developments in social dialogue and collective bargaining during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic in a selection of European countries. The paper provides an overview of government and social partner responses. In describing responses, the main goal of this paper is to identify the dimensions that can help explain the variety of responses, but also their commonalities. The paper also aims at understanding the factors that may have promoted the activation of social dialogue over economic and social policies and broaden the role of collective bargaining and industrial relations, as opposed to unilateral interventions designed by national governments. The paper lays out an analytical framework based on the COVID impact in each country, national industrial relations institutions and the nature of the government in office. In this general framework, we observe how national industrial relations institutions play a key role in explaining the responses in terms of the level and quality of social dialogue and the role of collective bargaining. Particularly important has been the role of strong sectoral collective bargaining institutions, allowing sectoral actors to negotiate specific responses considering the impact and the needs of the sector.

The present paper analyses frontline workers’ incomes in the fields of education, health, and welfare (“EHW”). In the face of an upsurge in demand for such services, the question is how EHW occupations can attract enough qualified workers, now and in the future. In public perception, EHW work is poorly paid, while empirically, wage heterogeneity between occupations is quite large. A comprehensive comparison of EHW occupations’ wages across Europe is still lacking. The present contribution seeks to fill this gap by comparing incomes for 24 European countries, based on data from the European Union’s labour force survey (EU-LFS) between 2016 and 2020. Our descriptive analysis yields that EHW workers earn slightly above-average incomes in the majority of countries. This result can be explained by the high share of EHW workers with a tertiary education level. By contrast, for EHW workers with only secondary education, we find that they earn less in EHW than in other labour-market segments. Both outside and inside the EHW, we observe higher incomes for men than for women. Between EHW occupations, there is an income hierarchy led by medical doctors and tertiary education teachers. At the lower end, there are personal care workers with lower formal education who earn below-average incomes in all observed countries. Yet the degree to which they are penalised differs widely. From a dynamic perspective, our findings hint at a slightly deteriorating relative income position of EHW workers in the 2010s, apparently caused less by declining wages than by structural change in the wider labour market. In diesem Working Paper werden Einkommen von Beschäftigten in den Bereichen Bildung, Gesundheit und Soziales („EHW“) analysiert. Angesichts der steigenden Nachfrage nach solchen Dienstleistungen stellt sich die Frage, wie EHW-Berufe jetzt und in Zukunft genügend qualifizierte Arbeitskräfte anziehen können. In der öffentlichen Wahrnehmung ist Arbeit in diesen Bereichen schlecht bezahlt, während empirisch eher Lohnheterogenität beobachtbar ist. Ein umfassender Vergleich der Löhne von EHW-Berufen in ganz Europa steht noch aus. Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht auf Basis der Arbeitskräfteerhebung der Europäischen Union (EU-AKE) Einkommen in 24 europäischen Ländern in den Jahren 2016 bis 2020. Es zeigt sich, dass EHW-Beschäftigte in der Mehrzahl dieser Länder leicht überdurchschnittliche Einkommen erzielen. Dies lässt sich durch den hohen Anteil von EHW-Beschäftigten mit einem tertiären Bildungsniveau erklären. Im Gegensatz dazu stellen wir fest, dass EHW-Beschäftigte, die nur über einen Sekundarschulabschluss verfügen, in den Bereichen Bildung, Gesundheit und Soziales weniger verdienen als anderswo. Sowohl außerhalb als auch innerhalb dieser Bereiche beobachten wir höhere Einkommen für Männer als für Frauen. Zwischen EHW-Berufen gibt es eine Einkommenshierarchie, die von Ärzten und Hochschullehrern angeführt wird. Am unteren Ende befinden sich Pflegekräfte mit wenig formaler Qualifikation, die in allen beobachteten Ländern unterdurchschnittliche Einkommen erzielen. Das Ausmaß der Benachteiligung ist jedoch sehr unterschiedlich. Unsere Ergebnisse deuten ferner darauf hin, dass sich die relative Einkommensposition von EHW-Beschäftigten in den 2010er Jahren leicht verschlechtert hat, was offenbar weniger auf sinkende Löhne als auf strukturelle Veränderungen im Arbeitsmarkt insgesamt zurückzuführen ist.

© 2022 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting /republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works This paper proposes a comprehensive analysis of the Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) focusing on the different arm applied voltage components, that this paper will refer as degrees of freedom (DOFs), which must be considered in order to perform the internal energy balancing of the converter. The analysis relies on the commonly used differential and additive reference frames. By means of a steady-state analysis, the different voltages components applied and currents components flowing through the converter are studied and an in-depth discussion of the roles of each DOF in the converter is presented. Furthermore, the mathematical expressions of the power exchanged between the AC/DC networks and within the converter, between the arms (vertical) and among phase-legs (horizontal), are derived considering all the DOFs of the MMC, revealing potential interactions among the differential and additive quantities. Finally, the theoretical analysis is validated through comparisons between the values obtained with the mathematical expressions and the simulation results assuming different case scenarios.

The coordination between system operators is a key element for the decarbonization of the power system. Over the past few years, many EU-funded research projects have addressed the challenges of Transmission System Operators (TSO) and Distribution System Operators (DSO) coordination by implementing different data exchange architectures. This paper presents a review of the ICT architectures implemented for the main coordination schemes demonstrated in such projects. The main used technologies are analyzed, considering the type of data exchanged and the communication link. Finally, the paper presents the different gaps and challenges on TSO-DSO coordination related to ICT architectures that must still be faced, paying especial attention to the expected contribution of the EU-funded OneNet project on this topic. IEEE CoordiNet H2020

Europe accounts for 51% of international tourist arrivals and the tourism industry provides about 10% of workplaces in Europe. Tourism will be impacted by climate change in a diverse number of ways. At the same time, tourism is also a significant contributor of greenhouse gas emissions. The aim of this article is, therefore, to provide an assessment of climate and carbon risks for the European tourism industry based on a systematic literature review. Climate risk is the dominant category with 313 papers (74%), while 110 papers (26%) were on carbon risks. The following gaps were identified: geographical gaps, especially in countries of the former Soviet Union and former Yugoslavia; a lack of coherent studies on national tourism’s and its sub-sectors’ emissions; research addressing how climate policies might affect tourism demand; assessments of the integrated carbon and climate risks; lack of evidence on the link between tourism climate indicators and tourism demand; lack of climate change and tourism studies addressing policy and institutional tools for adaptation and implementation of adaptation measures in destinations; and research on rising sea levels and coastal erosion and its impacts on tourism destinations and demand.

The onset of periods with very high or low air temperatures has aroused general interest for a long time, which is understandable since it has many dangerous effects directly affecting humans. Such perilous climatic phenomena include exceptionally cold and exceptionally warm months, which this study investigates for all Europe and for its five physico-geographic regions over the 190-year period of 1831-2020. Therefore, the research in this paper includes two periods characteristic of the history of climate - the late Little Ice Age (LIA) and present-day warming. The studies are based on average monthly air temperature values from 40 weather stations in Europe. In this paper, exceptionally cold months (ECMs) or exceptionally warm months (EWMs) are considered to have occurred when the average air temperature at a station differed from the respective long-term average by at least two standard deviations. The highlights of the study include the identification of a drop in the number of ECMs by 20 over the entire 190-year period, and a highly statistically significant increase in EWMs by 44 between 1980 and 2020. These changes proceeded with different intensities from one physico-geographic region of Europe to another.

This paper explores the gender gap in time allocation in European countries, offering a comparison of the 2000s and the 2010s, along with an explanation of the documented gender gaps, based on social norms and institutional factors. The results show that the gender gap in both paid and unpaid work has decreased in most countries, but with a significant level of cross-country heterogeneity in the size of the gender gaps. More traditional social norms are related to greater gender inequalities in paid and unpaid work, while countries with better family-friendly policies and a greater representation of women in politics and in the labour market exhibit smaller gender inequalities. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of gender gaps in Europe, and attempts to monitor the progress towards the elimination of gender inequalities. Despite that some degree of gender convergence in paid and unpaid work has taken place, there remain inequalities in the distribution of labour in European countries, and possible solutions may be related to social norms and family-friendly policies.

This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of POAG in Europe.Two authors independently conducted a systematic literature search on PubMed/MedLine, Web of Science, and Google Scholar to identify papers analyzing the prevalence of POAG in European countries. After removal of duplicates, title and abstract screening, and full-text analysis, data from selected articles were entered in an Excel spreadsheet. We performed risk of bias assessment using the Joanna Briggs Institute Prevalence Critical Appraisal Tool and conducted a meta-analysis using the R software (version 1.4.1106).We retrieved 9348 eligible papers from the initial electronic search and included 10 of them in the qualitative and quantitative analyses. A total of 26,993 patients were included in this meta-analysis (11,927 male and 14,556 female). We identified 755 POAG cases (397 male and 348 female), with a pooled prevalence estimate in Europe of 2.60% (95% confidence interval: 1.90%-3.56%). Increasing odds for POAG were related to increasing age and some geographic differences in the disease distribution in the continent were identified. Statistically significant sex-related differences in the prevalence rate of POAG were not observed in this cohort.POAG is a neurodegenerative disease that affects a large proportion of the older European population. In the future, the prevalence of POAG is expected to grow in Europe because of the progressive aging populations of Western countries. Future high-quality epidemiological studies for the evaluation of POAG prevalence rates are warranted.

The paper seeks to analyze Vladimir Putin’s securitization of the West in his speech at a military parade in Moscow’s Red Square on the 9th of May 2022. Thereby, the article employs political discourse analysis and Copenhagen School’s securitization theory to show how Putin uses speech acts to transform the West into an existential threat and justify the adoption of extraordinary measures, such as the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Furthermore, the research refers to Richard Sakwa’s concepts of “cold peace” and “neo-revisionism” to make sense of the emergence of such discourse. By using humiliation narratives and evoking patriotic images, Putin exacerbates a sense of victimhood and historical right in the Russian audience that emphasizes the state’s isolationism and historic role to fight against the “Nazified” West and Ukraine. Putin also promotes an image of Russia’s superiority, supporting cultural and civilizational pluralism and diversity ending the pre-existing Western universalism. The paper concludes that with these practices, the Russian president manages to not only successfully securitize the West but also spur significantly the public’s support for his war.

This paper focuses on the transnational neofascist network during the long 1970s. Specifically, it revolves around the period between the consolidation of the generational change (made explicit in 1968), and the beginning of the 1980s, when many of these political actors decided to migrate to South America, increasingly aware of the shortcomings of their European project. From a spatial perspective, this paper concentrates on the concept of a 'Third Force Europe', paying particular attention to Latin connections, especially France, Italy, Spain and Portugal - countries which remained at the forefront of the network. The main premise will be that the new generation of neofascist militants that was beginning to dominate the political stage during the 1960s was dissatisfied with the old ways in which neofascist groups were conducting politics, thus becoming determined to find a place to be politically active outside the traditional parties; in fact, they needed to find their own political space vis-a-vis the more nostalgic older generation. This physical space would eventually be found in Italy, Spain, Portugal and many Latin American countries which had offered a safe refuge for the older fascists who had wanted not only to escape, but also to settle down and consolidate a series of political and personal relationships which they had established over the past two decades. From a strategic perspective, the growing dissatisfaction would also create a new form of struggle: black terrorism. This terrorism became widespread in Europe in the late 1960s and 1970s and, as a result of this, many neofascists were forced to flee their countries to find refuge, once again, in Spain, Portugal and Latin America. This diaspora would further enhance transnational neofascist cooperation that would reach one of its high points between 1969 and 1981.

Against the backdrop of the "normative power Europe" (Manners, 2002) thesis, this paper investigates the rule of law crisis in Poland and its implications on private companies' performance and investment decisions. The rule of law plays a crucial role in companies' investment activity, while at the same time is also a central category in the EU's legal and political edifice. These two problems are rarely analysed together as inter-linked realities, which, in fact, they are. The central question of this paper is how the rule of law's deterioration in Poland influences the private investment level in the country's economy and what it might mean for the further political integration of the EU. Among the theories applied were those linked to the institutional approach, i.e., new institutional economics, while among the methods themselves, it was qualitative methods which were used over quantitative methods. It is argued that the political and legal crisis, which has placed Poland in an adversarial position towards the EU, may result in a long-term deterioration of the investment climate in Poland. It may also induce political instability and legal disintegration in the EU.

By understanding listening processes in philanthropy and social impact investments as a critical aspect of building a trustworthy philanthropic practice, this paper offers a qualitative review of how foundations and funders in Europe and Brazil listen. To comprehend and to be able to qualify and classify their listening practices, the interview script for this paper built upon the work of the "high-quality feedback loop" organisations that advocate for better listening practices in philanthropy and aid. Thirty interviews offered insights into why organisations listen, the biggest challenges in the process, different project phases where listening occurs, who is listened to, listening methods, space for feedback, reporting back processes, power imbalances and levels of participation.

Starptautiskais bizness un tiesības Vadība, administrēšana un nekustamo īpašumu pārvaldība International Business and Law Management, Administration and Real Estate Management Darba nosaukums: Jaunuzņēmuma 3DPetsWorld stratēģijas izveide konkurētspējai Eiropā Eiropā mājdzīvnieku skaits ar katru gadu palielinās un pieaug arī mājdzīvnieku piederumu un aksesuāru tirgus vērtība, un tiek prognozēts ka šī nozare arī turpinās savu izaugsmi vismaz līdz 2027.gadam. Šī ir nozare kurā darbojas nesen darbību uzsākušais jaunuzņēmumus 3DPetsWorld kurš piedāvā 3d drukātas, personalizējamas un veselībai drošas rotaļlietas mājdzīvniekiem kā arī ir uzsākts darbs pie piederumu un aksesuāru ražošanas. Uzņēmums pateicoties 3d drukas tehnoloģijai ražo unikālu produkciju, ko neražo neviens konkurents, bet uzņēmumam līdz šim brīdim nav izstrādāta tirgus konkurētspējas stratēģija un līdz ar to arī šī darba mērķis ir izveidot plānu konkurētspējas stratēģijai Eiropā uzņēmumam 3DPetsWorld, lai tas to pēcāk varētu izmantot un turpināt savu tālāko attīstību. Pētījuma metodes kuras darbā tiek izmantotas ir monogrāfiskā metode, kura tiek izmantota apskatot pieejamo literatūru un avotus un tos aprakstot. Sekundāro datu analīzes metode, kura tiek izmantota, lai analizētu datus un prognozes Eiropas mājdzīvnieku un mājdzīvnieku piederumu tirgum. Kvalitatīva metode kura tiek izmantota, lai izveidotu jautājumus un pēc tam intervētu ekspertus par tirgus konkurētspējas stratēģiju un tās izveidi. Kontentanalīze kura tiek izmantota analizējot datus par mājdzīvnieku skaitu un piederumu tirgu Eiropā, lai izsecinātu tendences šajos tirgos. Darba rezultāti parāda ka uzņēmumam 3DPetsWorld konkurētspējas stratēģiju Eiropā ir iespējams izveidot balstoties uz 8 posmiem - padziļinātu tirgus izpēti, mērķa tirgus identificēšanu, unikālās vērtības piedāvājumu, izplatīšanas kanālu izveidi, ražošanas un piegādes ķēžu optimizāciju, digitālo mārketingu, sadarbību veidošanu un attīstīšanu, nepārtrauktu stratēģijas novērtēšanu un uzlabošanu. Šo stratēģiju ir iespējams izmantot visās Eiropas valstīs, pielabojot stratēģijas punktus kur tas ir nepieciešams, atkarībā no katras valsts, bet kopējie posmi spēj uzņēmumam 3DPetsWorld piedāvāt konkurētspējas stratēģijas bāzi uz kuru uzņēmums var balstīt tālāko attīstību. Starp galvenajiem secinājumi darbā autors secināja ka Eiropas mājdzīvnieku piederumu tirgus ir augstas konkurences tirgus ar augstu konkurentu savstarpējo konkurenci un augstu aizvietotāju risku, bet tajā pašā laikā pircēju kaulēšanās spēks pircēju sadrumstalotības dēļ ir vidējs, un arī jaunu konkurentu risks ir vidējs, lielo tirgus spēlētāju un citu faktoru dēļ. Piegādātāju kaulēšanās spēks šajā tirgū ir zems lielā materiālu piegādātāju skaita un citu faktoru dēļ. Darbs sastāv no 73 lappusēm, 87 literatūras avotiem un 10 pielikumiem. Title of the paper: Startup 3DPetsWorld competitive strategy creation for Europe In Europe, the number of pets increases with each year, the market value of pet accessories is increasing, and the sector is also projected to continue its growth until at least 2027. This is the industry in which 3DPetsWorld, a newly launched start-up company, is active, offering 3D printed, personalizable and food-safe toys for pets, and testing has begun on the manufacturing of pet accessories. The company, thanks to 3D printing technology, produces unique products that are not produced by any competitor, but the company has not yet developed a market competitiveness strategy and, consequently, the objective of this work is to set up a plan for a competitive strategy in Europe for 3DPetsWorld so that it can exploit it and continue its further development. Study methods used in the paper are a monograph method used to examine and describe available literature and sources. A secondary data analysis method used to analyse data and forecasts for the European pet and pet accessories market. A qualitative method used to create a questionnaire and then interview industry experts on the market competitiveness strategy and its design. A contentious analysis, which is used in analysing data on the number of pets and the accessories market in Europe, to infer trends in these markets. The results of the work show that it is possible for 3DPetsWorld to build its competitiveness strategy in Europe on 8 phases: in-depth market research, target market identification, unique value proposition, distribution channel creation, optimization of production and supply chains, digital marketing, collaboration building and development, continuous evaluation and improvement of the strategy. It is possible to use this strategy in all European countries by adjusting the strategy points where necessary, depending on each country, but the common stages can offer 3DPetsWorld a competitive strategy base on which the company can base further development. Among the main conclusions of the work, the author concluded that the European pet accessories market is a highly competitive market with high competition between competitors and high substitute risk, while the bargaining power of buyers due to the fragmentation of buyers is medium, and the risk of new competitors is also medium, due to large market players and other factors. The bargaining power of suppliers in this market is low due to the large number of suppliers of materials and other factors. The work consists of 73 pages, 87 references and 10 appendices.

Although a theoretical model for the settlement patterns of Galician Palaeolithic has been proposed in the last decades, it has not been statistically tested. The present paper aims to check whether this previous theoretical model can be verified statistically. For this purpose, a methodology based on the creation of a predictive model has been used in which the main environmental variables were analysed and their suitability for predicting the location of Palaeolithic sites statistically verified. The predictive model shows that the most accurate variables are elevation, slope, cost to potential hydrology, the cost to wetland areas, and visual prominence. The results demonstrated that the theoretical model was fulfilled in some of the variables previously proposed. Thus, we have shown the usefulness of this approach to test hypotheses and the results obtained open new possibilities of analysis in the study of the Palaeolithic sites in NW Iberia This study is part of the research projects Dinámicas poblacionales y tecnológicas durante el Pleistoceno final-Holoceno de las Sierras orientales del Noroeste ibérico (R&D Projects of the Ministry of Science, PID2019-107480 GB-I00), Ocupaciones humanas durante el Pleistoceno en la cuenca media del Miño (HUM2007-63662/HIST) and Poblamiento durante el Pleistoceno Medio/Holoceno en las comarcas orientales de Galicia (HAR2010-21786/HIST). M. Díaz-Rodríguez is part of the CLIOARCH project which has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement 817564); and the NeanderEDGE project which has received funding from the Independent Research Fund Denmark (case number 9062-00027B). We are very grateful to the two anonymous reviewers and the editor, whose comments have contributed significantly and helped improve the initial version of this paper. The analyses of this work have been carried out in the statistical environment R (R Core Team, 2021) SI

Introduction/objective: West Nile virus (WNV) is one of the most widely distributed flaviviruses worldwide. It is considered an endemic and emerging pathogen in different areas of the Europe and Mediterranean countries (MR). Mosquitoes of the genus Culex spp. are the main vectors, and birds its main vertebrate hosts. It can occasionally infect mammals, including humans. Different environmental factors can influence its distribution and transmission through its effects on vector or host populations. Our objective was to determine environmental factors associated with changes in vector distribution and WNV transmission in Europe and MR. Material & methods: Systematic peer review of articles published between 2000 and 2020. We selected studies on WNV, and its vectors carried out in Europe and MR. The search included terms referring to climatic and environmental factors. Results: We included 65 studies, of which 21 (32%) were conducted in Italy. Culex spp. was studied in 26 papers (40%), humans in 19 papers (29%) and host animals (mainly horses) in 16 papers (25%), whereas bird reservoirs were addressed in 5 studies (8%). A significant positive relationship was observed between changes in temperature and precipitation patterns and the epidemiology of WNV, although contrasting results were found among studies. Other factors positively related to WNV dynamics were the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI] and expansion of anthropized habitats. Conclusion: The epidemiology of WNV seems to be related to climatic factors that are changing globally due to ongoing climate change. Unfortunately, the complete zoonotic cycle was not analyzed in most papers, making it difficult to determine the independent impact of environment on the different components of the transmission cycle. Given the current expansion and endemicity of WNV in the area, it is important to adopt holistic approaches to understand WNV epidemiology and to improve WNV surveillance and control. This research was supported by CIBER -Consorcio Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red-, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and Unión Europea. ESP22PI05 and EU grant 874850 MOOD and is catalogued as MOOD 000. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and don’t necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission. Sí

In the post-communist countries, limited access to treatment, lack of financial protection mechanisms, lack of information and low quality of health care frequently imposes an enormous burden on family’s well-being when cancer is diagnosed. While many studies have explored barriers to cancer treatment, little attention is paid to the question how patients and their caregivers cope with cancer. In this paper, we systematically review the evidence on patients’ coping strategies with cancer in post-communist countries. We performed a literature search in PubMed, JSTOR, Web of Science and EBSCO (CINAHL) to identify papers that describe patients’ coping strategies because of organizational and financial barriers to cancer treatment. Papers published between January 1991 and January 2020 were included if they described individual experiences of patients at any stage of cancer treatment. We applied the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Literature Review as a guide for our review. In total, 28 publications from post-communist countries were included in this review. They presented evidence on coping strategies and barriers faced by patients when coping with poor access to cancer treatment, lack of finances, lack of information and low quality of health care services. Most sought coping strategies included using personal finances to pay for medical services, medicines and supplies, charitable contributions to the hospital and informal payments; visiting a private medical doctor; using personal connections and looking for additional information. We conclude that coping strategies are similar across post-communist countries and can be seen as an indicator of the shortcomings in cancer treatment. This evidence can be used to study and/or improve access to cancer treatment and improve health care policies. Research on the prevalence and quantification of coping strategies is needed to provide evidence-informed policies for countries that face gaps in cancer treatment.

The priority of modern business systems of municipal waste management is recycling of waste materials while the imperative of their mission is determined by the degree of digital transformation which enables their reproduction, distribution, usage, and storage of information in digital form, as well as new ways of digital communication with the general public. In this paper the focus is on examining the information practices and digital perspectives of municipal waste recycling service providers in Europe. The goal of this paper was to detect information concepts relevant for establishing the degree of their digital maturity. Five data classes were created for the purpose of content analysis method to conduct research on practices on digital communication channels in seven countries to evaluate their availability and accuracy. The designed information model defines a unique conceptual framework of the digital communication information set of the municipal waste recycling service providers.

Background: Cost-effectiveness is a tool to maximize health benefits and to improve efficiency in healthcare. However, efficient outcomes are not always the most equitable ones. Distributional cost-effectiveness analysis (DCEA) offers a framework for incorporating equity concerns into cost-effectiveness analysis. Objective: This systematic review aims to outline the challenges and limitations in applying DCEA in healthcare settings. Methods: We searched Medline, Scopus, BASE, APA Psych, and JSTOR databases. We also included Google Scholar. We searched for English-language peer-reviewed academic publications, while books, editorials and commentary papers were excluded. Titles and abstract screening, full-text screening, reference list reviews, and data extraction were performed by the main researcher. Another researcher checked every paper for eligibility. Details, such as study population, disease area, intervention and comparators, costs and health effects, cost-effectiveness findings, equity analysis and effects, and modelling technique, were extracted. Thematic analysis was applied, focusing on challenges, obstacles, and gaps in DCEA. Results: In total, 615 references were identified, of which 18 studies met the inclusion criteria. Most of these studies were published after 2017. DCEA studies were mainly conducted in Europe and Africa and used quality health-adjusted measurements. In the included studies, absolute inequality indices were used more frequently than relative inequality indices. Every stage of the DCEA presented challenges and/or limitations. Conclusion: This review provides an overview of the literature on the DCEA in healthcare as well as the challenges and limitations related to the different steps needed to conduct the analysis. In particular, we found problems with data availability, the relative unfamiliarity of this analysis among policymakers, and challenges in estimating differences among socioeconomic groups.

In this full research paper we examine questionable collaboration from a student perspective. Collaborating while solving computer lab assignments is often considered an important part when learning computer science, as it allows students to discuss their work, while also practicing working together. However, it also introduces risks, such as students collaborating in ways negatively impacting their learning outcomes and leading to inaccurate grading. Hence it is important to work towards reducing the use of these poor collaborative practices. In order to ameliorate the problem with academic misconduct, we need to understand students’ justifications for deviating from acceptable practices. In this paper we therefore investigate how students justify their collaborative practices during computer lab assignments in situations they experience as questionable. The justifications were collected through 15 semi-structured interviews with students experienced in pair programming, majoring in computer science and other technical fields from two large well-known European universities.The justifications from the interviews were analysed using phenomenography resulting in seven categories: external pressure, lack of interest, spending time on the assignment, understanding the end product, contributing to the process, learning from the assignment and reflecting on the purpose of the learning. These describe in which situations students might deviate from the rules and can be used by institutions to prevent such behavior.

A better understanding of various patterns in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spread in different parts of the world is crucial to its prevention and control. Motivated by the previously developed Global Epidemic and Mobility (GLEaM) model, this paper proposes a new stochastic dynamic model to depict the evolution of COVID-19. The model allows spatial and temporal heterogeneity of transmission parameters and involves transportation between regions. Based on the proposed model, this paper also designs a two-step procedure for parameter inference, which utilizes the correlation between regions through a prior distribution that imposes graph Laplacian regularization on transmission parameters. Experiments on simulated data and real-world data in China and Europe indicate that the proposed model achieves higher accuracy in predicting the newly confirmed cases than baseline models.

Aim: The aim of this systematic review was to comprehensively and critically summarize and synthesize the risk of losing teeth among with diabetes mellitus (DM) compared to those without DM, as established in observational studies. Materials and methods: MEDLINE-PubMed and Cochrane databases were searched through a period from their inception through October 2020 to identify eligible studies. Papers that primarily evaluate the number of teeth in DM patients compared to non-DM individuals were included. A descriptive analysis of the selected studies was conducted, and when feasible, a meta-analysis was performed. The quality of the studies was assessed. Results: A total of 1087 references were generated, and screening of the papers resulted in 10 eligible publications. A descriptive analysis demonstrated that six of these studies indicate a significantly higher risk of tooth loss in DM patients. This was confirmed by the meta-analysis risk ratio of 1.63 95% CI (1.33; 2.00, p

”Is the green economy a real solution to the present economic development?” represents the main question of the present research. The paper deals with assessing the impact of innovation on the green economy and quality of life through policies promoted at the European Union (EU) level. The objectives of the paper are to assess the impact level of the policy implementation across the Member States through the research and development (R&D) process and to identify models for the development of the green economy in Europe. The applied methods are empirical and analytical based on the study of literature, econometric modeling, pivoting econometric models, trend synthesis, prioritization, and staging of policy experimentation in the Member States through data processing and statistical programs. The results consist in obtaining development models for the green economy at the EU and national levels. In conclusion, the paper contributes to the early identification of vulnerabilities that may affect the development of European strategic projects in relation to events and security breaches occurring at the EU level at any given time.

The increased focus on environmental (E), social (S), and governance (G) (ESG) disclosure has become a necessary step toward the integration of sustainability practices into firms’ culture to meet the expectations of stakeholders. The social and environmental implications of firm activities on the environment and surrounding communities have led to the growing demand for useful non-financial information. This paper investigates the impacts of the board’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy and CSR orientation, GRI, and the country–cultural dimensions, based on Hofstede’s measures of ESG disclosure practices within Europe. Using a European dataset from Bloomberg and Refinitiv Eikon, this paper adopts a quantitative research methodology to test the research hypotheses through a statistical analysis of 7840 observations from European companies to analyze the extent of the relationship between micro- and macro-variables and the disclosure of company ESG. Our findings suggest that both board CSR orientation and strategy and the GRI have positively and significantly affected the overall disclosure of ESG practices within Europe. When examining country–cultural dimensions, we find that individualism and feminine cultures are positively associated with increased levels of ESG disclosure. Our findings shed light on factors affecting ESG disclosure practices within Europe and could be of interest to companies, policy makers, and other stakeholders.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, auto-immune condition that imposes a high burden on individuals, society, and the healthcare system. Approximately 4.4% of adults and up to 18.6% of children/adolescents have AD in Europe, with 20% of all cases accounting for moderate-to-severe forms. This form of the condition in adults results in annual societal costs across Europe of an estimated €30 billion; €15.2 billion related to missed workdays or reduced work productivity, €10.1 billion related to direct medical costs and €4.7 billion related to personal expenditure of patients/families. AD can also substantially impact physical, emotional, and social quality-of-life. Several studies have shown the debilitating itch-scratch cycle is the main cause of the multifaceted burden, as it causes substantial sleep deprivation and stigmatisation due to the physical appearance of the skin, and confidence issues. These factors lead to psychosocial issues and can cumulate over time and prohibit patients reaching their 'full life potential'. Despite this, many patients with the condition are undertreated, resulting in uncontrolled symptoms and a further strain placed on patients, society, and the economy. The authors of this White Paper comprise the European Atopic Dermatitis Working Group, which is a network of international specialists with expertise in dermatology and healthcare policy decisions. Their programme of action is focused on harnessing their expertise to build consensus, advance research, share knowledge, and ultimately seek to improve AD care outcomes through achieving long-term symptom control. This White Paper presents a systematic evaluation of the overall financial and humanistic burden of moderate-to-severe AD and the current challenges that exist with AD care. It introduces recommendations for how, collaboratively, key stakeholders and policy makers can support improvements in AD management to achieve better disease control, thus reducing the costs and associated burden placed on individuals, society, and the economy.

This paper presents a design of water-based flexible, optically transparent and frequency reconfigurable antenna having a unidirectional radiation pattern. The proposed antenna incorporates a dipole radiator on top of a reflector plane that makes the radiation unidirectional. The reflector is constructed from pure water enclosed inside a circular cavity made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), which consists of several ring chambers arranged concentrically. Frequency tuning operation is achieved by an innovative mechanical tuning mechanism involving controlling the water configuration inside the circular cavity. Depending upon the presence or absence of the water in different chambers, the resonance frequency changes accordingly while maintaining the radiation pattern unidirectional. Detail simulation investigation of the proposed technique is presented in this paper.

The underdevelopment of Africa’s and Nigeria is neither natural nor solely caused by internal contradictions, such as corruption, bad leadership, embezzlement of public funds as argued by some political science scholars even though the aforementioned internal factors plays a very devastating roles on the issue of underdevelopment in Africa. However, Andre G. Frank argued that the Europe and Africa’s were developing at a different pace, until the Europe came and distorted the development of Africa, the idea which Frank called development of underdevelopment in Africa. Nevertheless, it is germane to expose the fact that the underdevelopment of Africa’s and Nigeria was caused or could be traced to internal and external factors such as bad leadership, corruption and highhandedness etc. as the internal factors on one hand, and slavery, colonialism and imperialism, deceptive politics of exploitation of Africa’s surplus values as the external factors on the other hand. However, this paper examined the external causes of underdevelopment in Africa’s and Nigeria, and examined the pattern or process through which the Europe underdeveloped Africa’s and Nigeria. This paper adopted the relative deprivation theory as a model to explaining how Africa’s and Nigeria were deprived of her development, and how her resources were exploited by the Europe, hence, underdevelopment of Africa’s and Nigeria. This paper also adopted the secondary methods of data gathering, as valuable data were retrieved from articles, textbooks, newspapers and internets materials, as those data collected are used to validate the arguments of this study. This paper finally proffers sustainable solutions on how to fall out of the devastating challenges of underdevelopment ravaging Africa’s and Nigeria.

Previous studies have reported a decrease in air pollution levels following the enforcement of lockdown measures during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, these investigations were mostly based on simple pre-post comparisons using past years as a reference and did not assess the role of different policy interventions. This study contributes to knowledge by quantifying the association between specific lockdown measures and the decrease in NO2, O3, PM2.5, and PM10 levels across 47 European cities. It also estimated the number of avoided deaths during the period. This paper used new modelled data from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) to define business-as-usual and lockdown scenarios of daily air pollution trends. This study applies a spatio-temporal Bayesian non-linear mixed effect model to quantify the changes in pollutant concentrations associated with the stringency indices of individual policy measures. The results indicated non-linear associations with a stronger decrease in NO2 compared to PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations at very strict policy levels. Differences across interventions were also identified, specifically the strong effects of actions linked to school/workplace closure, limitations on gatherings, and stay-at-home requirements. Finally, the observed decrease in pollution potentially resulted in hundreds of avoided deaths across Europe. This research had free and open access to all data sources. The work described in this paper has received funding from European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) on behalf the European Union through commercial contract Ref. CAMS_95p. Several CAMS Regional Models of the CAMS_50 Service contributed to the present work (CHIMERE, LOTOS-EUROS, MINNI, MOCAGE, MONARCH, SILAM) under CAMS_71 coordination. CAMS_COP066 service provided the lockdown emissions information. O.J. and M.G. thankfully acknowledge the computer resources at Marenostrum and the technical support provided by Barcelona Supercomputing Center (RES-AECT-2020-1-0007). SILAM model runs was also funded by Finnish Academy GLORIA project (No310372). The study was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Project Exhaustion (Grant ID: 820655). Peer Reviewed "Article signat per 18 autors/es: Rochelle Schneider, Pierre Masselot, Ana M. Vicedo-Cabrera, Francesco Sera, Marta Blangiardo, Chiara Forlani, John Douros, Oriol Jorba, Mario Adani, Rostislav Kouznetsov, Florian Couvidat, Joaquim Arteta, Blandine Raux, Marc Guevara, Augustin Colette, Jérôme Barré, Vincent-Henri Peuch & Antonio Gasparrini "

Purpose of this paper: ‘Sustainability’ as a phenomenon is difficult to define and sense (Meadows,1998). Sustainable city logistics is a concept with many subjective interpretations by different actors in the urban freight transport ecosystem (Behrends et al., 2008). Developing useful metrics to measure sustainability performance and impact in city logistics is challenging as there are many uncertainties and multiple stakeholders’ interests to consider. Selecting the indicators is also a complicated task because of the numerous variables used in literature and the variety of KPIs reported by logistics companies in their sustainability reports. Extant research studies have proposed different frameworks and indicators to assess sustainability in city logistics. However, the quality, practicality and applicability of the indicator vary. This is due to the absence of a holistic approach that engages both public and private stakeholders who can define sustainability goals for city logistics and develop the sustainability indicators accordingly. This study captures the sustainability goals in city logistics with consideration of both public and private stakeholders and proposes indicators to measure the sustainability performance of city logistics activities. Design/methodology/approach: The Delphi method was used in this study. A heterogeneous Delphi expert panel was formed with 50 city logistics experts in Europe. The participants included academic experts, local authorities, and logistics service providers identified from city logistics-related research projects in Europe. Using two rounds of Delphi survey questionnaires, qualitative and quantitative data were collected. A niche form of the “policy Delphi” was also incorporated in the data analysis, not only for gauging the consensus but also for eliciting the diverse views among the panel experts (Rayens and Hahn, 2000). Findings: The definition of ‘sustainable city logistics’ and different sustainability goals perceived by public and private stakeholders were captured. A list of 42 provisional indicators developed based on literature, sustainability reports and experts’ nominations were evaluated in terms of their relevance to the sustainable goals. Value: By engaging 50 experts from 22 different cities as a novel data corpus, this study extends the empirical observations to explore the priority of different sustainability goals, and subsequently to assess the relevance of indicators for measuring these sustainable goals. Radical and heterogenous ideas identified among experts during the process help to gain a richer and more balanced picture of sustainable city logistics from a multi-stakeholder perspective. The proposed ‘Define-Design-Develop-Deploy’ indicator development stage model in line with the design thinking for sustainability development has brought a new disciplinary perspective into the logistics research. Research limitations/implications: Radical and innovative ideas identified among experts during the three-round Delphi surveys help to gain a holistic understanding of sustainable city logistics from a multi-stakeholder perspective. Practical implications: The proposed sustainable city logistics indicators were developed by engaging experts from different cities with different expertise backgrounds. These indicators offer policymakers and practitioners a list of prioritised metrics aligning with policy agenda or business objectives.

Strong primary care does not develop spontaneously but requires a well-developed organizational planning between levels of care. Primary care-oriented health systems are required to effectively tackle unmet health needs of the population, and efficient primary care organization (PCO) is crucial for this aim. Via strong primary care, health delivery, health outcomes, equity, and health security could be improved. There are several theoretical models on how primary care can be organized. In this position paper, the key aspects and benchmarks of PCO will be explored based on previously mentioned frameworks and domains. The aim of this position paper is to assist primary care providers, policymakers, and researchers by discussing the current context of PCO and providing guidance for implementation, development, and evaluation of it in a particular setting. The conceptual map of this paper consists of structural and process (PC service organization) domains and is adapted from frameworks described in literature and World Health Organization resources. Evidence we have gathered for this paper shows that for establishing a strong PCO, it is crucial to ensure accessible, continuous, person-centered, community-oriented, coordinated, and integrated primary care services provided by competent and socially accountable multiprofessional teams working in a setting where clear policy documents exist, adequate funding is available, and primary care is managed by dedicated units.

Humans are exposed to several per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) daily; however, most previous studies have focused on individual PFAS. Although attention to effects of exposure to mixtures of PFAS has grown in recent years, there is no consensus on the appropriate statistical methods that can be used to assess their combined effect on human health.We aim to perform a comprehensive review of the statistical methods used in the existing studies which evaluate the association between exposure to mixtures of PFAS and any adverse human health effect.The online databases PubMed, Embase and Scopus were searched for eligible studies, published during the last ten years (last search performed on April 08, 2021). Covidence software was used by two different reviewers to perform a title/abstract screening, followed by a full text revision of the selected papers.A total of 3640 papers were identified, and after the screening process, 53 papers were included in the current review. Most of the studies were published between 2019 and 2021 and were conducted mainly in North America and Europe; more than half of the studies (28 out of 53) were conducted on mother and child pairs. WQS (Weighted Quantile Sum) Regression and BKMR (Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression) were used in 36 out of 53 papers to model mixtures' effects. Health outcomes included in the studies are immunotoxicity (n = 8), fetal development (n = 7), neurodevelopment (n = 9), reproductive hormones (n = 6), thyroid hormones (n = 7), outcomes related to metabolic pathways (n = 16).Studies on human exposure to PFAS as complex mixtures and health consequences have substantially increased in the last few years. Based on our findings, we propose that addressing risk from PFAS mixtures will likely require combinations of approaches and implementation of constantly evolving statistical methods. Specific guidelines and tools for quality assessment and publication of mixture observational studies are warranted.

The European Astronautical Space Transportation (EURASTROS) study [1], which was carried out in 2021, was a joint undertaking of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and ArianeGroup GmbH with the main objective to identify missing technologies and infrastructures for an independent European space transportation of astronauts to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and to predict the corresponding cost. The study included several trade-offs regarding e.g. ascent, descent and abort trajectories, space system design and launch abort system concepts. The selected reference launch vehicle is Ariane 6.4., to be launched from a future crew-rated Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. The Apollo-shaped crew capsule is served by an ASTRIS kick-stage derived service module, and the proposed launch abort system is a tower-like concept which was considered favorable in terms of technical maturity and cost. Details are presented in [1] and only briefly summarized within this work. The present paper focusses on the cost estimation of the overall system including all segments, i.e. space, launch and ground. The estimation is based on a dedicated DLR cost model, using amongst others technical inputs from ArianeGroup and DLR. The paper furthermore outlines the development approach, primarily for the space segment, which is a major input for the cost estimate. Four test and demonstration flights are proposed to eventually provide a certified system for an independent European crew access to LEO. Depending on their objectives, the space and launch segments are constituted of different development, qualification and flight models, which is detailed within the work presented. The model philosophy is captured within the cost estimate by using linear cost factors on the first theoretical flight unit (TFU or T1) following the T1-equivalent approach on subsystem level as described in [2]. All major cost estimation methodologies have been applied to identify the recurring (RC) and non-recurring cost (NRC), i.e. parametric, engineering build-up and analogy-based estimation. All cost figures within this paper are normalized to fiscal year 2021 constant euros. Based on the assumptions made, the point estimate of the total NRC, including a first crewed flight to the International Space Station, is around 4100 M and the RC per mission in the 400 M range, considering a conservative unit theory learning curve with a slope of 90% and assuming 20 missions within 10 years, as an example. The biggest contributor identified for the development cost is the space segment with almost two third of the NRC. A comparison with other international programs, as analyzed amongst others in [3], and previous studies, indicates the similarity to current commercial programs and hence also a viable case for such a European endeavor. It has to be noted that so far during the study, re-usability aspects for the space and launch segment were not particularly considered for the technical and cost analyses. The paper concludes with the discussions of cost drivers, sensitivity analyses as well as business options and recommendations which have been conducted and derived throughout the EURASTROS study. [1] A. Gulhan, M. Wolf, et al., Final Presentation of the Study on European Astronautical Space Transportation (EURASTROS), 15.11.2021 [2] G. Reinbold, Successful Cost Estimation with T1 Equivalents, Proceedings of 2016 International Training Symposium, Bristol, UK, October 2016 [3] E. Zapata, An Assessment of Cost Improvements in the NASA COTS/CRS Program and Implications for Future NASA Missions, AIAA, 2017

This paper describes the architecture of a trust module for the interaction between human users and virtual characters. The module is part of a bigger project whose goal is that of creating virtual and truly realistic characters capable of interacting with human users. An example of such a virtual character is a computer rendered museum clerk that interacts with visitors. The role of the security module in the envisioned scenarios is that of providing trust, mainly regarding the identity of the human user, but also about the “identity” of the virtual character. In this paper we design (and describe the implementation) of an architecture in which human users identities are checked through face recognition and handled with verifiable credentials managed through a public blockchain. The project has been funded by the European Union and is under realization. The security module described in this paper is part of a bigger project, currently under realization, funded by H2020 from the European Commission: PRESENT - Photoreal REaltime Sentient ENTity - H2020-ICT-2018-20/H2020-ICT-2018- 3. Grant Agreement: 856879.

The question of whether it is appropriate to attribute authorship to deceased individuals of original studies in the biomedical literature is contentious. Authorship guidelines utilized by journals do not provide a clear consensus framework that is binding on those in the field. To guide and inform the implementation of authorship frameworks it would be useful to understand the extent of the practice in the scientific literature, but studies that have systematically quantified the prevalence of this phenomenon in the biomedical literature have not been performed to date. To address this issue, we quantified the prevalence of publications by deceased authors in the biomedical literature from the period 1990–2020. We screened 2,601,457 peer-reviewed papers from the full text Europe PubMed Central database. We applied natural language processing, stringent filtering and manual curation to identify a final set of 1,439 deceased authors. We then determined these authors published a total of 38,907 papers over their careers with 5,477 published after death. The number of deceased publications has been growing rapidly, a 146-fold increase since the year 2000. This rate of increase was still significant when accounting for the growing total number of publications and pool of authors. We found that more than 50% of deceased author papers were first submitted after the death of the author and that over 60% of these papers failed to acknowledge the deceased authors status. Most deceased authors published less than 10 papers after death but a small pool of 30 authors published significantly more. A pool of 266 authors published more than 90% of their total publications after death. Our analysis indicates that the attribution of deceased authorship in the literature is not an occasional occurrence but a burgeoning trend. A consensus framework to address authorship by deceased scientists is warranted.